Evaluation of Efficacy of Ribavirin on Laboratory Test and Severity Score in Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Children

Mikrobiyol Bul. 2021 Apr;55(2):180-193. doi: 10.5578/mb.20219905.ABSTRACTCrimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is endemic in Tokat province. It is observed in all age groups. The case fatality rate varies 20-30% in hospitalized patients and 0-5% among children. Ribavirin use and supportive measures are the main treatment modalities, but the effects of ribavirin in CCHF are controversial. Most of the studies investigating the effectiveness of ribavirin are done by comparing the initial and the final laboratory values. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of oral ribavirin use in children with CCHF by using all the clinical and laboratory findings and to investigate the presence of unnoticed results. In the study, the data of 67 patients under 19 years old who were hospitalized and followed up with a diagnosis of CCHF during 2012-2020 epidemic period were retrospectively analyzed. Epidemiological and demographic characteristics, clinical and laboratory data were retrieved from the patient files. We implemented a linear mixed-effects model to assess the effects of the ribavirin, taking into account the repeated measures of the data. Ribavirin was given to 33 (49.2%) of the patients. 54 (80.6%) of the patients were male, 13 (19.4%) were female, 52 (77.6%) of the patients were living in rural areas and 15 (22.4%) were living in urban areas. The mean age was 15.1 (median= 15.5, range= 8-18) years in patients who did not receive ribavirin, and 15.2 (median= 15, ran...
Source: Mikrobiyoloji Bulteni - Category: Microbiology Authors: Source Type: research